Simple living in the country - back to basics

Cheery_Daff

So, plans for the long weekend:

FRI - take car to garage, I need to do a few hours of work (got a deadline which i thought was Wednesday but which is actually Monday, and also I stopped about 1.30 today). Scything later in the day

SAT - no plans - scything and ceiling. Monthly goals meeting with my sister in the eveninv

SUN - Mr Cheery's dad's - NOT doing another coat on his ceiling, but there may be walls to paint. I'm going to make a bid for lopping some of the overgrown garden, nice change of pace.

MON - no plans, scything and ceiling

TUES - still off, and no particular plans, so maybe scything and ceiling, although there is a little factory tour thing I want to do that I've been putting off for no good reason - might treat myself to that 😊

Hoping by the time I'm back at work on Wednesday that:

(a) the blithering kitchen ceiling will be finished
(b) the kitchen will have had a second coat of paint, and 
(c) I will have done another 8 hours in the field, mostly scything but also will have removed all existing cut grass

That's probably enough...

greent

Sorry to hear about Bonny x

What do you do with sleeping the cut grass? - use it for chicken flooring?

Cheery_Daff

greent said:

Sorry to hear about Bonny x

What do you do with sleeping the cut grass? - use it for chicken flooring?

I stick a bit in the chicken run if it gets really cold or muddy in the winter, but don't use it as standard - they tend to eat it 🙄 and also it gets really heavy when muddy so it's hard to clean out. Dry stuff goes in an outbuilding - sometimes used to sit on under a blanket if the ground is cold for a picnic 😁 but mostly i use as mulch for the fruit bushes and willow dome.

Hay is a byproduct for me - I'm not scything to make hay, I'm scything to remove fertility form the field in a bid to restore some of the less vigorous grasses and flowers and a bit of meadow habitat since so much has been lost. So transferring some of that fertility in the form of cut grass to the fruit trees is a nice benefit 😊

Woke before 6 this morning and haven't either gone back to sleep or got up 🙄U did win £40 on the Happy Wheel though, taking August's total to £207 - will try not to lose too much of that over the weekend 🙄

And I signed up to To Good To Go - not been inspired by Olio so far, there's been literally nothing in our 2 local towns - but TGTG seems to have had a few bags from local cafes and a supermarket we go to regularly anyway, so will keep an eye out. 

Right, best get up I suppose. We didn't put the bins out last night so I might actually be in time for that although it does involve getting dressed. I usually let the chickens out in my dressing gown, but the top of the drive is quite far away and there's a site compound for council drain works up there at the minute so i should probably get dressed! 

Might need a nap later 🙄

Cheery_Daff

Car dropped at the garage for brake pads and a new tyre. Just had a phone call to say the suspension has gone too - to the point that they wouldn't have let us drive it home as it was dangerous 😱 

So I imagine we won't get much change from £600, if any 🙄 But it needs doing, there's enough in the car pot, and I'm just grateful they can do it!

themadvix

Ouch to the car problems, but good that they can do it and you have the money to cover it.

Good luck with your plans!

LadyWithAPlan

Cheery_Daff said:

Excellent! I'll start thinking about what that might mean for us. I've always liked that 'back to school' feeling of September so it's a nice time of year for a reset for me 😊

I've been copying @LadyWithAPlan and reading over the Frugal 2022 thread and it's made me realise just how many things I used to do that I don't even think about any more. So many potential changes to make! 

One thing I need to do fairly soon is defrost the freezer - it's starting to ice up at the top, and is so packed that I can't see what's in it 🙄 There won't be anything exciting 😂😂 But there are some gooseberries and blackcurrants from the garden to turn into jam or something- no point using electricity to store those. A job for the weekend maybe. 

I am the same - love Sept ! 

I will join you in a frugal Sept - though my last 2 weeks here is pretty frugal as I am still house/pet/horse sitting and no shops  in walking distance Some of the Frugal 22 are hardcore and I need to step it up!

Defrosting freezer here is a mammoth job as I try to eat thru what looks edible ! 

I definitely will try this meal planning for a month as Tilly did (just finished her diary!) when I get back home - do a freezer/larder inventory and see how it works.

Sorry to hear about Bonny - sounds like she had a great life.

That scything sounds exhausting. They get machines in here and I stay away whilst they bring it all in by hand  

Just off to an evening walk with the 5 dogs - luckily only one on lead full time . I look like a mad woman with 2 dogs on leads on one side and holding a malumute  by its collar whilst 2 other dogs bounce around.. Luckily its all their land but ....

Then determined to do last few hours work  of work (still catching up from the bitey dog chaos) to close the week so can have 3 days free 
Happy bank holiday!

Four_Seasons

Hi, please could you post a link to "Tilly's" diary, thanx.

themadvix

Here you go @Four_Seasonshttps://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3594273/countdown-to-freedom#latest - it’s the stuff of legend! 😁

Four_Seasons

Thank you so much, my bank holiday read I think x

Cheery_Daff

Thank you all! Good to hear things are easier for you LadyWithAPlan 😊

Bit of a weird day here but cheerful overall. Woke before 6 and didn't go back to sleep 🙄 Cafe breakfast but they were fixing the roof and making a right racket so we didn't stay long. Ended up working til about 3.30 🙄 Then rang pensions people (more on that later...). Collected the car, which unsurprisingly drives a lot better. Had a chat with a neighbour in the lane, looks like they might be able to help us with bashing the fence posts in for the chicken run extension. 

Then went on an impromptu trip into the city to visit some pals - quick stop.in Mr A for a cheap pizza and some beer etc. Had a lovely evening, another friend of theirs popped round too later and looked set to stay over. We eventually left at midnight - I really didn't want to drag Mr Cheery away as he was having such a lovely time but I had to drive home so couldn't leave it much later...

Had a lovely badger sighting on the way home, and finally got back about 1.20. Very ready for snoozing soon!